Ethan Gaudet kept Oyster River in check Monday as Souhegan opened its title defense with a 9-3 win. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

AMHERST – It looked and felt like June for the Souhegan High School baseball team on Monday – and not just because of the temperatures.

The Sabers began their Division II title defense by scoring in every inning but one in a 9-3 rout of Oyster River at Bill Dod Field.

Besides a high-powered offense, the Sabers had pinpoint pitching, as starter Ethan Gaudet didn’t allow an earned run over six innings.

The game was tied at 1 in the bottom of the second when senior catcher Joe Mayo delivered a two-run double to key a five-run third inning.

“Obviously the expectations are through the roof,” said Mayo. “We know we’ve been there. I feel like we’ve come together as a group this year, whether it’s hitting, coming early for practice, staying late, just hanging out with each other outside the field. I feel that’s made a big impact and obviously I feel like it showed tonight, how we’ve really bonded.”

“We came out and we’re focused on us this year,” Sabers coach Chris Metz said. “Defensively we were a little sloppy, we’ve got to clean things up. But I can’t say enough about Ethan Gaudet and how he came out and threw today. The kid’s a bulldog, has got a little moxy to him. He was made I took him out. I said ‘Dude, I need you to be ready to go in June, not April 13.'”

Remember, this is a program that didn’t lose a Division II game last year after making the finals the year before. Gaudet allowed just our hits with six strikeouts in addition to scoring two runs and stealing a base.

Besides Mayo, Blake Powers went 2 for 2 with a double, triple and three RBIs batting right behind the senior catcher. Alex Trudel, who pitched the final frame to get some work in, added an RBI single in the big break-open third off Bobcat starter Colin Veroneau.

“I thought our two-strike approach was outstanding,” Metz said. “Blake Powers did a great job with a two-strike approach, all through our scrimmages he’s had great at bats with a two-strike approach.”

The other factor that Metz liked was the Sabers scored seven of their nine runs with two outs. “We put the ball in play and put pressure on them, and that’s what we want to do.”

Gaudet meanwhile kept the Bobcats off-balance.

“He’s one of the best pitchers to ever come out of Souhegan,” Metz said. “He showed it again today.”

And the feeling is Mayo is one of the school’s best ever, too, so it was quite a battery at work. And Mayo got the first big hit of the season.

“That’s what he does,” Metz said. “He just wants it.”

So do the Sabers, which is the way they felt all last season when they got it in June. Some things never change.